Object of the Week - Flaming Star Nebula

No, this weeks object is not Richard Simmons with gas, it is a challenging object to observe in the winter sky. IC 405 (RA:5h16m12.00s DE:+34°16'00.0") is a reflection nebula located in the constellation Auriga (Aur). Nick named the flaming star nebula because of its close association with the variable star AE Aur. The gas and dust in this cloud reflects the light from this star giving the impression that the star is "burning". The nebula is about 1,500 light-years away. It covers a area of the sky of about 0.5 deg. or about the apparent size of the moon in the sky. The nebula is faint and hard to observe. It is best to use a nebula filter with a large aperture telescope and wide field eyepiece.

Image: POSS-2 image of IC 405

AE Aur is an Orion-type variable star which varies irregularly. These stars are still unstable from their formation and suffer periods of eruptions. It varies between 5.8 and 6.1 mag and it does not have a measured period to these brightness changes. The star is also called a "runaway star" due to its high velocity through space. Tracing it path back it can be shown to have originated near the Orion Nebula. Two other runaway stars also come from this region, Mu Col and 53 Ari. These stars were possible ejected when couple of binary stars interacted and led to the ejection of these stars about 2.2 million years ago. One other thing to note is AE Aur is itself a optical binary with an 8.8 mag companion. This is just a visual alignment. The companion does not share the motion of AE Aur.

Image: AE Aur DSS image

Also in the field is 17 Aur (AR Aur) which is an eclipsing binary. It varies between 6.2 and 6.8 mag. NGC 1893 is located a few degrees to the south east. it is a loose open cluster with some associated nebulosity.

One more interesting fact about this area of the sky. Not far from IC 405 is located what is called the Anti-center of the galaxy. It is the point opposite the center of the galaxy as see from earth. Looking out in this direction you are looking out through the remaining third of our part of the galaxy to inter-galactic space.

Image: Galactic Anti-Center by James B. Kaler

Finder charts below.

Image: 90 Deg Finder Chart

Image: 30 Deg Finder Chart

Image: 05 Deg Finder Chart